NATALIE PORTMAN SIGNS-ON TO TWO TERRENCE MALICK FILMS: FIRST ROLES SINCE MATERNITY BREAK

Natalie Portman at TIFF 2010

Those of us worrying that she'd be taking a hiatus following the birth of her Son Aleph last year, need not fret. The Black Swan herself Natalie Portman, has signed on to star in not one, but two Terrence Malick Films, Knight of Cups and Lawless.  Malick who after taking a bit of a break following 2005's The New World and prior to that 1998's The Thin Red Line, is now back in full swing with three titles in the works.

Details are sparse right now on both Knight of Cups and Lawless, but like The Tree of Life, they include all-star casting.  The former already boasts Christian Bale, Isabel Lucas and Cate Blanchett, while the latter includes Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and Bale once again.  

(Photo credit: Mr. Will-W.)

"THE TREE OF LIFE" AND KIRSTEN DUNST WIN BIG AT CANNES

Still from The Tree of Life

Congratulations to Terence Malick for his victory at the Cannes Film Festival.  The shy Director's Feature The Tree of Life just received the coveted Palme d'Or Award for Best Feature; he was not on-hand to accept the Award.  Despite some "boos" having been heard at its Premiere in Cannes last week, it turns out that the Drama starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt is a Critical Darling after all.  The Film gets a Canadian release on June 10, 2011.

In a surprising turn of events, Kirsten Dunst was awarded Best Actress for her work in Lars von Trier's Melancholia.  The Dancer in the Dark Director known best for tortured Heroines in his Films, recently generated a bit of controversy when he made some Anti-Semetic remarks he made, getting him banned from the Festival. Melancholia is a Sci-Fi Piece about two Sisters whose relationship is compromised as another Planet threatens to collide with Earth.

Melancholia is due in theatres November 4, 2011 and also stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland and Alexander Skarsgård.  The Film is garnering some controversy as Dunst appears fully nude for the first time ever in it after having publicly gone on the record to say that Pedro Almodóvar is the only Director for whom she would remove her clothing.  Expect this one to do the Festival rounds including a possible TIFF stopoff this September.

(Photo credit: Fox Searchlight)

"THE TREE OF LIFE" GARNERS BOOS AND PRAISE IN CANNES

Still from Tree of Life

Despite some high expectations for The Thin Red Line Director Terence Malick’s latest work The Tree of Life, reviews unfortunately were mixed after today’s first screening of it at the Cannes Film Festival. Many have been awaiting the Film after multiple delays in its release, almost two years to be exact.

Although many top Critics had positive things to say about the philosophical Drama starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn, there reportedly was a bit of "booing" post-screening, which some Critics like Eric Kohn of IndieWire, took to Twitter clarifying this as an exaggeration.

Here’s what some of the Critics are saying for The Tree of Life:

“This film is not for everyone, and I will admit I am agnostic about the final sequence, which suggests a closure and a redemption nothing else in the film has prepared us for. But this is visionary cinema on an unashamedly huge scale: cinema that's thinking big.”. - PETER BRADSHAW - THE GUARDIAN